Pages

April 16, 2013

Review: Landmarq-Entertaining Angels

Landmarq
is a UK 5-piece band, formed in London in 1990. Prior to this new studio album
being released, they have issued four studio albums, Solitary Witness (1992), Infinity
Parade (1993), The Vision Pit
(1995) and Science Of Coincidence
(1998), and so there has been a 14 year wait for this, the fifth studio album, Entertaining Angels (Deluxe Edition).
The main reason for such a long period of time between these albums was the
illness of the female lead singer, who has now returned to fine form after
making a full recovery.

The
current lineup of the band is Tracy Hitchins (lead vocals), Uwe D’Rose
(guitars), Steve Gee (bass/vocals), Mike Varty (keyboards/vocals) and Daniel
Martin (drums) although Dave Wagstaff was the man on the drum stool for the
album. Entertaining Angels (Deluxe
Edition) is a 2 disc set which has a total running time of around 100
minutes. Disc 1, the main disc, comprises of 8 tracks and lasts about 71
minutes, while disc 2, the bonus disc, has a further 4 tracks and a running
time of around 29 minutes. Shortest track on the main disc is track 2, “Glowing
Part 1: Friends” which is 4:05 minutes and track 8, the final track, “Calm
Before The Storm” is a real tour-de-force lasting in excess of 16 minutes
(16:11).

Having
not been a Landmarq enthusiast previously, mainly due to the fact that my only
knowledge of the band prior to this album review, was a single track on a sampler
album from earlier in 2012, I settled down to give Entertaining Angels (Deluxe Version) an initial listen to get an
immediate impression. That first impression was very favorable and I certainly
looked forward to further runs through the album to finalize this review.

This
album is a fairly difficult album to pull some highlighted tracks from, as the
achievement level in terms of auditory satisfaction is very high across the
board. As disc 2 is a bonus disc, I will limit my choices to the main disc. At
the moment, the tracks that I am listening to more are, track 1, the title
track, “Entertaining Angels,” track 4, “Mountains Of Anglia” and the long final
track, track 8, “Calm Before The Storm.”

“Entertaining
Angels” (8:31), the opening, and title track, is a superb start to the album.
Gentle synthesizer warblings build to a simple guitar melody which instantly
“grabs your ears” allowing Uwe D’Rose to show his skills straight from the off.
At around the 2 minute mark, the guitar melody changes to a more strident
“harsher” sound and also heralds the entry of Tracy Hitchins vocals. Her voice
simply “drips” emotion and soars astride the subdued backing of the band. A
change in tempo around the 4 minute mark also sees a change in the vocals from
Tracy which fit the music so well. Returning to the soaring vocals and a repeat
of the time change follows to remind the listener of the recurring melody. Just
after 6 minutes there is a superb saxophone passage, backed by piano and that unobtrusive
but stunning engine room of drums (Dave) and bass (Steve) which has permeated
the track. Tracy returns again to the soaring vocal performance of earlier that
also heralds the ending of the track.

Track
4, “Mountains of Anglia” (8:56) is another of those “builder” tracks which
increases in intensity from the start. The guitar of Uwe, above the simmering
sound of the rest of the band, soon gives way to the throaty vocals of Tracy
with some more forays into the soaring vocals sphere. The band continues to
drive along behind the vocal with more great guitar from Uwe and keyboard
passages from Mike, weaving in and out above the foundations of the drums and
bass. That superb saxophone from track one reappears after a change of pace,
sounding very melancholic, with subdued guitar/keyboards in the background and
more of those stunning vocals. There is a very large “ tug of the forelock”
towardsPink Floyd, although never
copying, it simply oozes the “feel” of that classic band.

The
final track on disc 1, “Calm Before The Storm” (16:11) is really a mini suite
in 3 parts, “Strange But Beautiful,” “Spiderman” and “From The Abyss” which
merge seamlessly into one piece of music. Keyboards swirl and Uwe’s guitar
picks out a simply melody which hits high intensity very quickly. A change of
pace around 1:30 minutes to acoustic strumming, allows the whispery vocals from
Tracy to enter and then build. Stunningly melodic, the track moves along
highlighting the vocals which have, from time to time throughout the album,
reminded me a little of Aleena Gibson from Kaipa. There are some wonderful
little piano and keyboard runs in the background and the melodies continue to
swap places. Around the 6:00 minute mark, there is an upward shift in pace and
the keyboards power the track along before providing a springboard for the
return of a different, more forceful vocal from Tracy. Keyboard flourishes continue
throughout this passage, driving the track, and at 8:15 minutes there is
another slight change in emphasis before a return to the motif present around
6:00 minutes. The shift to the third part of the suite follows an extended
instrumental passage and another change of pace. At around 11:30 minutes, there
is a superb passage of keyboard washes interspersed with choral voices and a
little “saw toothed” guitar before keyboards player Mike gets the chance to be
in the spotlight on this epic track. Uwe’s guitar has a soaring passage and the
interplay with the keyboards from about 13:30 minutes is a fitting finale to
this stunning track. The band is in full flight for the last part, giving Tracy
a rest from vocals, as they take the track out.

All
in all, this is a majestic album, which uses the skills of the 5 musicians
involved to create the superb sounds. Although there are flourishes of guitar,
keyboards etc, the main weapon in the armory of the band has to be the stunning
melodies that they achieve within each track. There are hints towards some of
the “classic” prog bands but this is a very unique sound, the sound of
Landmarq.Another of the special edition
“One To Buy” stickers adorns the front of this album, which will probably mean
that I will have to order more stickers. There are so many amazing prog
releases happening and we are only into April.